For the first time in the three decades of its history, this year's International March of the Living will include an official delegation from the United Arab Emirates.
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The Emirati delegation will be led by H.E. Ahmed Obaid Al Mansoori, founder of the first Holocaust Memorial Gallery in the Arab world. Al Mansoori also founded the Crossroads of Civilization Museum. He will be joined by Eitan Neishlos, an entrepreneur and philanthropist who has been named Ambassador of International March of the Living in the Gulf states.
Neishlos is also a third-generation descendant of a Holocaust survivor, the late Tamar Zisserman.
The International March of the Living takes place each year on Israel's national Holocaust Remembrance Day to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust and the Nazi's systematic annihilation of more than 6 million Jewish men, women, and children.
The 32-kilometer (20-mile) march from Auschwitz 1 to Auschwitz-Birkenau is scheduled to take place on April 28 and conclude with the traditional ceremony held on the remains of the Auschwitz-Birkenau crematoria and will feature Israel's former Chief Rabbi, Yisrael Meir Lau, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion and Holocaust survivors and delegates from 25 countries. Al Mansoori and Neishlos are scheduled to light together one of the Torches of Remembrance.
Al Mansoori said that "The lessons of the past and the dangers of hatred and prejudice must be learned across the world for the sake of humanity. The new realities in the Middle East which have greatly contributed to the warm friendships between Jews and Muslims, offers a historic opportunity for the children of Abraham to stand together in remembrance of the victims of the Holocaust and serve as a sign of cooperation and partnership for the future in our region, and further."
Neishlos added, "The opportunity to establish the March of the Living's presence in the UAE and the Gulf, is not only a privilege, it is also an opportunity to reach ensure more people in our region learn about and understand the horrors of the Holocaust and take forward a message of reconciliation and peace for the future."
President of the March of the Living, Phyllis Greenberg Heideman, said, "After the Abraham Accords, we have the opportunity and the obligation to educate more people about the Holocaust and the lessons to be learned from that time in history … The participation of an official delegation from the UAE, and the establishment of our presence in the region is an important first steps to further the future of Holocaust memory and education."
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